SECTION 1.    Chapter 15A of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the following section:

     Section 42. There shall be a student loan repayment program for legislative and committee staff of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the purpose of retaining qualified legislative and committee staff of all economic backgrounds.  The program shall provide financial assistance for the repayment of qualified education loans, as defined below, and shall be administered by the board of higher education. The program shall be subject to appropriation.

The term “qualified education loan” shall mean any indebtedness including interest on such indebtedness incurred to pay tuition or other direct expenses incurred in connection with the pursuit of a certificate, undergraduate or graduate degree by an applicant, but shall not include loans made by any person related to the applicant, or loans paid by credit card.

The board shall promulgate guidelines governing the program. These guidelines shall include the following provisions:

(1) eligibility shall be limited to persons with incomes that do not exceed 500% of the federal poverty level;

(2) eligibility shall be limited to persons serving the Massachusetts House of Representatives after July 1, 2009;

(3) the commonwealth shall repay a qualified education loan at a rate not to exceed 10% of the total principal plus interest per year of service to the Massachusetts House of Representatives;

(4) payments by the commonwealth shall be made directly to the lender on behalf of a program participant, and shall cover only loan payments owed by the participant in the months during which the participant works in the commonwealth as a legislative or committee staff member for the Massachusetts House of Representatives.